CaleyD

Typical double standards....I offer sweets to minors and I end up on the register, a steward does it and it's perfectly ok!!!!

Players aren't blameless, but the system works in their favour. If TFC are "unaware", then De Rosario could be in breach of contract for going to train with another team, but what are TFC/MLS going to do? Tear his contract up? Doubt it....as that is what he wants by all accounts. Fine him? They end up with a player even more pissed off than he already is. Bench him? Pay a decent player for sitting on the bench, not likely. The only tool that the associations have for preventing the whole "tapping up" thing is to hit the clubs, and in this day and age the clubs should be making sure that all the necessary formalities are in place before taking players on trial etc.

Would take too long to explain the workings of IHE's mind....if it was even possible. Just go with the flow

DoofersDad, how you managed to get all that from my one line is beyond me!!! In no way, shape or form am I suggesting that anyone is not entitled to their opinion....would be more than a tad hypocritical given how opinionated I can be!!! I'm not even referring to the forum specifically as I think it is more widespread than that. Just about any/every conversation about ICT starts off with how great things have been on the road and ends with a "we just can't seem to do it at home"...not only on here, but everywhere. Not saying that observation is wrong, or that people should not be making the point, just stating that the more everyone dwells on it, the more it becomes embedded in the psyche, the more fans react negatively from the stands on a match day and/or it becomes the expected norm and everyone finds it tough to get gee'd up for the game.....and that WILL be noticed by the players. Everything feeds back on itself in some way....positive and negative....that's just the nature of things and I also know it would be foolish to suggest that it was any individual thing that was the cause and/or answer, just adding to the discussion. The players do read this forum, they do talk to fans in the street and way from the stadium, they do read the press....they will be more than aware of the thoughts, opinions and feelings of the fans and it would be naive to think that they thought nothing of that whatsoever....in fact, I know they do and I know it's a large part of what drives them on when they are out there. I'm not suggesting we can or should be doing anything different as fans, just making an observation and there's no need for people to be reading any more into it than what I have said.

I think the more we dwell on it as fans, the more it will play in the minds of the players. Bit of a catch 22 really.

Scarlet, tiredness is not being used as an excuse by Terry or the Players. I just felt that it was perhaps a factor...not so much in that our guys couldn't last a full 90 minutes, but in the fact that as St Mirren have had a bit more down time then they simply had more in the tank than us and could keep the tempo going longer. It would certainly explain our starting well in both halves and then fading towards the end. In fact, I've not seen any excuses from anyone at the club, quite the opposite. Nobody is looking to hide behind excuses and/or pass the buck, which can only be a good thing as it means lessons will be learned and endeavour will be made to prevent a repeat. Manny, I wasn't having a go at those who were/are criticising the performance as I would agree that there were things which were avoidable and steps that could have been take to at least try and change the flow of the game in the second half. What gets on my goat is those...with the benefit of hindsight...who are suggesting we should have been out there with a totally different line up, or who are suggesting players should be dropped or that players on the bench are suddenly the answer to all our problems and would have somehow managed to win the game for us single handedly and those who are now suggesting wholesale changes for the match tomorrow night. Had Butcher made the changes some are suggesting should have happened for the St Mirren game and the result had been he same, then these people would be on here tearing him a new one for messing with something that wasn't broken.

The offices, shop and ticket office at Tulloch Caledonian Stadium will be closed for our New Year holidays from Thursday 30th December to Wednesday 5th January. We will reopen at 8:30am on Thursday 6th January. Whilst we are closed, tickets and merchandise can be ordered using our online facilities at www.ictfc.co.uk

Had a feeling we'd get this kind of reaction the first time we suffered a hiccup. Some people seem to have slid into the mindset that Butcher and the Players are infallible. Perhaps not surprising given how well things have gone over the last 12 months, but one poor game hardly signals any impending doom. Yeah, mistakes were made, but when things have been going so well it must be hard to recognise or accept that we're in need of some changes...if indeed we are. I don't think yesterdays game was nearly as bad as some are making out and as I have said already, it looked to me like it was largely down to tired legs....or the fact that, having had more rest of late, the other team simply had a bit more in the tank than we did. Most of our squad haven't had a rest since day one, and they've been out there every week giving their all. I, for one, am not surprised if a few of them are in need of a little R'n'R. People need to take a step back and realise that the great run we were on was always going to suffer a bit of turbulence at some point. The fact we sustained it for as long as we did without a "major" upset is a miracle in itself. Let's not fall into the trap of thinking we are better than any team, or that any game should bring us guaranteed points as that would be arrogance personified. Get the frustration/disappointment out of the system by all means, but no need for knee-jerk reactions and calling for this, that or the next player to be dropped or hung out as the fall guy. As for Butcher, this is the guy who orchestrated our immediate return to the SPL, who has taken us 12+ months unbeaten on the road in any league encounter and currently has us sitting in the upper half of the premier league, well ahead of teams with bigger budgets and larger resources....I think we can forgive him the odd mistake.

I think tiredness played a large part in todays performance/result. We started strong in both halves and then faded from there....although we faded far faster in the second half. Not being complacent, but we maybe should have looked to todays game to rest a few players...even if it hadn't gone to plan, the result wouldn't have been any worse (but hindsight is a great thing). My only concern is that if we're suffering from fatigue then it's going to carry through the next few games until we get a break....anyone up for heading down to shovel all the snow back on to the pitch so the guys get a rest?

We're not going to spend the amount of money (on wages) for a player who's likely to spend more time on the bench than on the pitch. What's more, it's going to be tough to persuade a club to give us such quality on loan under such circumstances. Not saying it won't happen, but I think it's more than likely we'll get some little heard of player who Butcher sees some potential in, than any of the players named above.

Fixxxx!!!!

Straight swap McBain for Hayes....game on!!!

You can count me in.

Yeah, like anyone actually has a say in the matter

Think it was a combination of things on Saturday, none of them "injury" related. He seemed to be well covered every time he got the ball and given next to no space to get moving....which is when he becomes dangerous. Add to that the fact that he was tracking back far more than normal to double up with Duff in an attempt to contain Templeton and you realise that he was never going to "shine" in the manner we've come to expect.

There is a connection between the Emir of Qatar and Inverness, but I very much doubt the OP is aware of it, so thread moved to correct forum.

Unless he was having some kind of precognitive reaction to an injury he only picked up yesterday then you're way off the mark.

A ladder system where you are allowed to challenge anyone within 3 spaces of you...obviously the top teams will end up with more games, but that's the draw backs of success......I think we're on to a winner!!!

I find it very short sighted on the part of the BBC, and more than a little disappointing given that they are one of the bigger media partners. OK, so we only had 2 games, but given the circumstances I'm sure the SPL would have been happy that they use a little more footage than might normally be the case and it's not as if we had 2 games that were short on goals and/or action for them to discuss. They could have had some discussion about the league as a whole, ICT's unbeaten run on the road, why Aberdeen are toiling at the bottom, Hearts hot on the heels of Celtic, Brown going to Aberdeen and how it might effect Motherwell, Hibs struggling to push into the top 6. What's more, with the ongoing debate/discussion surrounding league reconstruction they could easily have filled another chunk of time with that subject, not to mention the discussion around the cause of their only being 2 games and a look at how the weather effects the football calendar and the subject of the winter break. All topics that could have been thrown in at the last minute without the need for too much preparation. The subjects/material were there for them to produce a show which would have been a welcome change from the usual OF dominated offerings we get every other week and they blew it.

Not really a vote for Xmas. More an acceptance that they look doomed this season and if they are going to drop a league, they want it to be to an SPL 2 where the income is allegedly going to be more than they would get in the current 1st Division.

I know some people get worked up by the whole spelling and grammar thing, but how did you know he was saying it "Donut" and not "Doughnut"?

I'm on a roll with the Scarf Dude.....

Just to add to what Scotty has said about site policy/guidelines....multiple accounts are not permitted on CTO. Those who have created them have 24 hours to PM us to let us know which account you want to keep and we will remove the other. Anyone using a duplicate account who doesn't contact us will have both accounts suspended until we get a chance to sort it out. The subject is not up for discussion on this thread, if you have any questions please PM us.

I had a vague recollection that shinty outlawed heading the ball a few years ago. I think it may have just been "scoring with your head" that was outlawed. Sure we have some players among us who could confirm.

A wee xmas present for IHE...